Doppelganger
by Hermonthis
Summary: Katara/Zuko interaction - Speculation on how they will meet for the S2 finale: Crossroads of Destiny.


NOTES: 'tis a drabble and pure speculation on what might occur in the S2 finale.

The writing bug bit me and I had this line keep popping into my head and thus inspired this drabble:

_She was here to find a friend, someone whom she had lost while he was here out of curiosity to see if he could locate the remains of the blue and white mask. He expected her to cry when they were lost and she couldn't find what she was looking for, but he certainly didn't expect her to turn around and say, "Why do you have to look like Jet?"_

* * *

**Doppelganger**

Katara didn't know what made her thoughts sway towards him, or why she allowed herself to follow her intuition and look for him at a time like when, a time when she should be worrying about her friends, especially Aang. She just knew that her throat felt so very tight and that she was trying so hard not to cry.

"Please find me," she spoke to no one in particular, the glow of the gemstones embedded in the cave walls sparkled magnificently through watery eyes, as if every worry she had for the world manifested itself into fireflies that danced around her, wanting to guide her back to her family.

Constantly wiping every tear from her eyes before they fell onto her cheeks, Katara's nose gave a long sniffle. Dang this cave weather. Not that there was actual weather she reasoned, but to be confined in a space like this, not able to see the sky at all, it made her uneasy. When the walls expanded to reveal vast caverns, she felt like a little drop of water trying to find a way back to the ground. At other times when the walls were so close that her head would brush the stone, she felt like a giant who was only going further and further down into the earth. She sighed,

"Back to the beginning of the world."

She had come for Jet. Jet can't be dead, not when Toph's last message for her had been that there was a new passage underground to where the Dai Li had retained a base. And so she had come here by herself and gotten lost in a cave, a cave that supposedly led to the Dai Li.

Oh, how she hated those guys, especially the one called Long Feng. To keep the war a secret from the people, to forbid them talking about it, it boggled her mind. Her world had been changed by that war; just one small life out of many that would be changed in the future, if all should go well.

Jet can't be dead. He was one of those worlds too. Last time – last time he was injured but he would be okay. His friends would have carried him somewhere safe where he could rest and heal and come back to fight alongside her and the rest of the group. A very large, very painful 'something' was caught high up in Katara's throat and it hurt for her to breathe.

But what if he didn't make it?

"Aang. Sokka, where are you?" she whimpered and held the vial that Master Pakku had given her above her head as if it were a candle that could guide her to Jet, just like the sparkling fireflies.

She kept walking.

* * *

"Katara?" Zuko whispered her name, feeling the way that his voice rebounded off the cave walls, her name reaching the girl but the echo coming back to his ears. They were both huddled at opposite ends of one of the many chambers of the cave with their backs turned towards each other. She had been quiet for what he perceived to be a long time but without the sun, he couldn't tell surely. However, he did know crying when he heard it.

He had come to the cave with Uncle. No, that wasn't correct. He had come to the cave which was under the lake in search for his mask. That was his intention. But Uncle Iroh was here somewhere too with Azula and her friends and they had come to the cave for their own reasons. Here, under the lake was where he had crossed paths with the Avatar's friend.

At first she was understandably surprised when he ran into her but Zuko was astonished when she merely narrowed her eyes at him, put out a hand and shoved him to one side of the passage continuing her journey. There was something on her mind and she was determined to find it.

"Katara," he called out to her again and this time he thought he heard her call for someone else, perhaps her brother, perhaps the Avatar.

"Mom, I'm sorry I didn't go with Sokka to see Dad."

* * *

Zuko didn't expect her to follow him further into the cave when she admitted she was lost. He didn't expect her to trust him even when neither of them could see in the dark and all he had was his firebending and all she had was a vial that she held in her hand. But there was to be no firebending in this cave, she commanded, or else it would take up all the air and they'd suffocate.

"I'm looking for someone but I can't find them." He grunted and kept walking forward.

"What are you looking for?"

"A way out," he retorted but the footfalls behind him halted and Zuko turned around to see a frown across her face. "Okay, I'm looking for something I thought I lost." There was no need to tell her about Uncle and Azula but Zuko did wish that his uncle would be all right and somehow, they'd reunite before his sister got to either of them. His strategy was to keep on going and stop when something hit you; then and only then would he decide if he was going the right way or the wrong way and who was your enemy and who was a friend. It's just like how he came across Katara in the first place.

"Katara?" She smiled in response, "do you remember your mother?"

* * *

Round and around they go without a direction and only able to see what's in front of them. He tried to lead and she tries to follow but he finds that he keeps looking back over his shoulder to see if she is still there and she realizes that he's worried about her and if he continued to halt like that she'll continue to walk straight into his back with an "hrumph!"

So they decide to walk beside each other as much as they can in areas where the cave permits and the passages are wide. Their shoulders brush against each other but it is warmth that they welcome against the dark walls and the cold, sparkling gems.

"Zuko, I'm glad that we ran into each other." He said, "So am I." Katara wetted her lips and continued,

"I don't think I'm going to find what I'm looking for." She held the vial in her left hand and started to pace the floor, all the while looking back and forth from his face to her hand and back again. "I thought that I'd find him here but he's not." Zuko started to speak but she silenced him with a finger to his lips. "Instead of finding him, I find you."

"Zuko, there is a vial in my hand that contains water, healing water. I can use this water to heal any cuts, bruises, or scars that a person might have. I came here to heal someone," she paused, "but I can heal you too." Katara removed her fingers from his face where she had touched the scar and took a step backward.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Yes." She bowed her head low and Zuko felt a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders. Here was a chance to start anew! He strode up to Katara and in a gesture of utmost gratitude, bowed to her. Katara's head rose and her eyes took in his image; the clothes, the shoes, the scar, the hair. She would heal and fulfill her purpose here but in a direction altogether different from what she had initially supposed.

Zuko's head rose and he smiled at her. She could image the scar already fading.


End file.
